"Life", where it exists

She lives in one of those slums people generally visit only to make survey reports. She dresses in plain simple cotton dresses. Her hair is pale brown ,rough, and has lost all the glamor it had few months back. She has no money now. Not that she ever had something which people could point out, but at least she went to a school, studied and had always thought that she would be a nurse some day. I did not know her. Just that even I intended to conduct a survey and this particular slum was the closest to my place. So, there was I, dressed in pure white formal clothes, to give an offical touch to my apperance. Sunglasses on my head, hair tied into a decent pony tail and, with a serious look on my face. She wasn't the earliest people I saw there. I surveyed an old woman , then a young boy, then a middle aged man and then her, Amrita. I could see, all people of her age playing near the railway lines, but she was sitting in her room, mothering her little brother. I needed to survey a couple now, for some more details of the place.
So, I went upto her and asked her, " Please could you tell me where your parents are? Would like to talk to them."
She smiled at me and said, "You will have to wait for some long time to meet them."
"umm.... They are not at home?"
"No, they are in our second home."
"Ok. What does your father do?"
"He was a laubourer. "
"Not anymore? What does he do? What does your mother do?"
"They left doing anything I can think of. Or Even you can."
"I didn't quite get you."
"They went some where else, to stay with each other only. They are a happy couple. You don't get to see such people together, often. "
I smiled.
"May be they are out of town.May be for some work. May be she doesn't know what they do" These were my thoughts at that poit of time.Thinking that she was still a small kid, I left the place, and headed towards my car. She came back running to me with her brother tighly cluchted in her small arms.
" My name is Amrita. And he is my small brother. Pray that their souls rest in peace."
I could not belive what I heard. She still believed that they were a happy couple. She still believed in their existence. I just stared at her. Gave her a little money, and drove away.

"Life" is where you see it. Even in the dead. I learnt it.